Hinged door for railway cars



May 2, 1933. G. @ummm UQWS@ HINGED DOOR Fon RAILWAY cAas @riginal Filed Sept. 14, 1929 vl/m2"A Patented May 2, 1933 Unirse srrss ra'rsnr Fries GARTI-I Gr. GILPIN, OF RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE HINGED DOOR FOR RAILWAY OAR-S July 15, 1931.

My invention relates to the construction of railway cars having drop doors, such as hopper cars, hopper gondola cars, drop bottom or general service gondola cars, mill type gondolas having drop end doors, or the like, having a door forming a part of the car for retaining the load therein, which door is provided with hinges adjacent one of its edges and is capable of being dropped or swung open. Any means of raising the door to the closed position and any means for locking and releasing the door may he employed with my device. Such a door is commonly called a hopper door.

An object of the invention is to provide a door of cast metal, preferably malieahle iron or cast steel, having a panel portion forming a floor or wall of a hopper and to form and shape the entire door so that it will not be deformed by warping when cooling, and furthermore, will eliminato shrinkage cracks and internal stresses.

Another object of the invention is to stiifen the outer edges of the door to retard the starting of cracks and also to retard defiection of the outer margin of the door.

Another object of the invention is to reinforce a hopper car door in such a way 'to also increase the cubical capacity of the car.

In the drawing:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show a typical railway car incorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is af section on line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 shows a section of a modified form of door.

Fig. 5 shows the outer edge of the door stiffened by a bead construction.

Fig. 6 shows the outer edge of the door stifi'ened by a wedge shaped construction.

This door comprises a main portion 2 and a depressed portion 4 in spaced substantially parallel planes connected by a continuous web 3. The main portion is preferably substantially flat to engage flat bearing surfaces adjacent the edges of the hopper' opening. The door is provided with preferably integral supporting brackets which comprise a web 20, an upper member 21,

Divided and this application iiled and a lower member 22 forming an I-beam section. The opposite side of the door is supported by the hinge lugs which are preferably of similar construction and perforated for a hinge pin.

The web is preferably positioned 0bliquely so as not to retain any part of the load on the door when it is in dropped position. However, the web may be at rightL angles to the main portion and still come within the scope of the invention. The main portion 2, the web 3 and a part of the depressed portion 4 form what is known as a Z-section, which is very strong in both compression and tension, and the remainder of the depressed portion carries the load to this Z-section. The Z-section extends continuously around the perimeter of the door. The web 3 also extends continuously around the door and is spaced apart from the outer margin thereof. This web is preferably formed on large radii at the corners of the door so that the stresses caused by the imposed load will not concentrate at any corner of the door.

In the usual. form of hopper door the upper surface is fiat and corresponds to the main portion 2 of my door so it will be ohserved that in my construction the culoical capacity of the car is increased. In the standard A. R. A. hopper car now in general use my door increases the cubical capacity about eight cubic feet, which permits the car to carry about four hundred more pounds of coal.

The outer edges of the door are enlarged and stiifened by the bead 23 of Fig. 5 or by increasing the thickness of the portion 2 toward its outer edge to provide a wedge shaped arrangement 24 of Fig. 6 to prevent cracks from starting either in the moulding process or when the Z-shaped section is under deflection when loaded as a beam. (The main portion 2 then becomes the compression member of the beam.)

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

This is a division of my co-pending appli- 5 cation Serial No. 392,632, filed September I claim: 1. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car, provided with hinge lugs at one side thereof and supporting brackets at the Opposite side thereof, said door comprising a main portion and a depressed portion in spaced apart planes connected by a web, said mainportion being enlarged at its outer margin, whereby the door is strengthened as a beam between the hinge lugs and the supporting brackets.

2. A door forming partof the load retaining means of a railway car provided with 2.1i hinge lugs at one side thereof and supporting brackets at the opposite side thereof, said door comprising a main portion and a depressed portion in spaced apart planes connected by a web, said main portion being stiened at its outer margin by a bead, whereby the door is strengthened as a beam between the hinge lugs and the supporting brackets.

3. A door forming part of the load re- 303taining means of a railway car provided with hinge lugs at one side thereof and supporting,Y brackets at the opposite side thereof, said door comprising a main portion and a depressed port-ion in spaced apart planes 3?` connected by a web, said main portion increasing in thickness toward its outer edge t0 provide stiffening means, whereby the door is strengthened as a beam between the hinge lugs and the supporting brackets. 4. A door forming part of the load retaining means of a railway car, provided with hinge lugs at one side thereof and supporting brackets at the opposite side thereof, said door comprising a main portion and p a depressed portion in spaced apart planes connected by an oblique web, said main portion being enlarged at its outer margin, whereby the door is strengthened as a beam between the hinge lugs and the supporting 5G brackets.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

